Sudan's press under siege

Press freedom in Sudan
is rapidly deteriorating, with confiscation
of newspapers by the security agency becoming a norm. The scope of
violations committed against publications and journalists by the Sudanese
National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) is widening by the day.

Since early May, the NISS has confiscated more than 14
editions of different newspapers in Sudan, suspended more than 13 journalists
from writing in newspapers, and identified about 20 taboo topics not to be
tackled by the press.

Newspapers confiscated by the NISS since early May:

On May 1 and 2, the NISS confiscated Al-Jarida from the printing press.

On May 3, World Press Freedom Day, the NISS confiscated Al-Midan after printing was completed.

On May 6, the NISS confiscated Al-Midan
and Al-Jarida after printing was
completed.

On May 7, the NISS confiscated Al-Tayar
after printing was completed.

On May 8, 10, 13, and 15, the NISS confiscated Al-Midan after printing was completed.

On May 17, the NISS halted printing of Al-Midan.

On May 11, 12, and 14, the NISS confiscated Al-Jarida
after printing was completed.

On May 18, the NISS confiscated Akhir
Lahza from the printing press.

Every confiscated newspaper results in losses of between
10,000 and 15,000 Sudanese pounds (equivalent to US$330 and US$5,000) in printing
costs, even without factoring in other operational expenses including rental of
premises, wages and salaries, travel expenses, and advertisement costs. In
addition, these newspapers suffer a moral blow and lose the confidence of their
readership because of their repeated no-shows on newsstands--which they are
unable to explain because the government bans newspapers from discussing
censorship.

By confiscating newspapers, the security agency aims to
cause a significant financial loss and force the newspapers either to go out of
business or to comply with its instructions.

Arresting journalists

On May 15, the NISS arrested for the second time this month prominent
journalist, university professor of media, and editor-in-chief of the suspended
Al-Adwa newspaper Faisal
Mohamed Saleh. He was interrogated at the State Security Prosecution several
hours after his arrest. A police complaint was issued against him under Article
94 of the Criminal Code on resisting a law enforcement officer.

Saleh was released on bail pending further investigations,
with a hearing set for June 11. Conviction under Article 94 is punishable by approximately
one month of jail time and a fine.

Between April 25 and May 11, Saleh was told to appear at the
security agency daily because of a statement he made on Al-Jazeera TV in which
he criticized a speech by President Omar al-Bashir as escalating the language
of war.

"The security personnel came to my house and my office more
than once during the day and in the evening on Wednesday, April 25. I wasn't at
home," Saleh said. "Around 8 p.m., they came to my house again and told me I
was wanted by the security agency. I joined them outside and went with them to
the premises of the security agency. I was questioned about my comments regarding
the president's speech in Al-Abyad City to Al-Jazeera's 6 p.m. newscast of
Thursday, April 19. There was not much to say since they already had the news
bulletin recorded and I also repeated my comments to them. They told me that
such comments were not fit for media and it was better to communicate them to
the authorities by other means and that I should be conservative when speaking
to foreign media outlets and should not talk about certain issues except to
local media. They also told me that I used some inappropriate words. I replied to
all that. The interrogation lasted until midnight. I was asked to come back on
Thursday morning to continue the interrogation which they insisted on calling a
'dialogue.'"

Saleh continued to report daily to the security agency
premises in Khartoum North for 11 days. On the 12th day, however, he decided not
to go to the security agency premises and posted his intention on local
websites. The next morning, he was arrested and kept in the security agency
premises for about nine hours without interrogation.

Journalists banned
from writing per NISS orders

In addition to the direct censorship exercised by the NISS on
newspapers and other publications, the NISS instructs management boards and
editors-in-chief of newspapers to suspend certain journalists from writing. Should
a newspaper not comply with NISS orders, it would face confiscation and possible
suspension. Editors-in-chief report that they were instructed by the security
agency not to publish the work of certain journalists or their news outlets
will be closed.

At last count, the following journalists were suspended:

Haidar al-Makashfi, editorial consultant at Al-Sahafa

Zuhair al-Siraj, columnist at Al-Jarida

Abdullah al-Sheikh, former editor-in-chief of multiple papers

Abu Zar Ali al-Amin, writer at the suspended Rai Al-Shaab and at Al-Jarida

Fayez al-Salik, Al-Jarida

Amal Habbani, Al-Jarida

Mujahed Abdullah, Alwan

Essam Jafar, Alwan

Rasha Awad, Al-Jarida

Ashraf Abdul Aziz, Al-Jarida

Al-Tahir Abu Jawhara, Al-Jarida

Mohammad Mahmoud Al-Subhi, Al-Jarida

Abdul Salam al-Qarai, Al-Jarida

Banning journalists from writing is a weapon used by the security
agency to deprive journalists of their livelihoods and income in order to
coerce them into obedience.

Taboo topics

The security agency sends a daily letter to editors-in-chief
in Khartoum containing a list of taboo topics. "The list of red lines is long
and renewed on a daily basis," said journalist Idris al-Douma, the managing
editor of Al-Jarida. "We usually
abide by the directives of the security agency and have never disregarded them.
Yet, the security agency still disrupts the printing of the newspaper. We do
not know the reason behind such deliberate disruption. We believe that Al-Jarida newspaper is targeted by the
security agency but we do not know why," Al-Douma said.

Security agency censorship takes different forms, including
orders communicated to the editor-in-chief or the managing editor over the
phone not to publish about certain topics that the agency considers taboo.

"I received an evening phone call from the Intelligence and
Security Services on Saturday, May 5," said Madiha Abdullah, editor-in-chief of the
critical Al-Midan. "They told me over
the phone that the newspaper must not contain articles that criticize the
performance of the security agency, the armed forces, or the police, and must
not criticize the president, and that the newspaper must not discuss the
situation of civil liberties and press freedoms, problems in the government of
the state of Gedaref [in Eastern Sudan] or the dismissal of the governor," she
said. "Previously, they had warned against criticizing the performance of the
army and the violations committed at the hands of the police, uniformed forces, and the security agency, along with a list of taboo subjects. However, we
usually do not abide by these directives, as they are too numerous and
restrictive and violate our right to publish and the people's right to access
information."

Abdelgadir Mohammed Abdelgadir is a Sudanese freelance journalist and press freedom advocate based in Khartoum. He recently authored a book on press freedom in Sudan called,
“Walls of Silence: Systematic Practices to Repress Press Freedoms, Freedom of Opinion and Expression in Sudan.”

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